Pagico 2.3, check it out!

From the developers ... I am listed as a hero :-)

There has been many people lending their hands to me for this project. And now it's time for me to say "thank you".

Well, those hidden heros are: ...

Dutch government abandons e-voting for red pencil

About a year after the Dutch government began seriously worrying
about the integrity of e-voting machines, they've literally pulled the
plug on the venture. The biggest flaw was the lack of a paper trail
according to a special committee which reported its finding this
morning. As such, Nederlanders will return to the "red pencil method"
in upcoming elections until an automated paper-counting solution can be
deployed... and then hacked.

Update: To be
perfectly clear, the regulation allowing e-voting machines has been
withdrawn -- i.e., effective immediately, there is no more e-voting in
the Netherlands. However, the Dutch government will make an overarching
decision in the next two months "to regain the trust of the public in
our voting system." Given that the government commissioned this study
themselves, the decision is expected to be a simple rubber stamp
approval.

Back

I am back from my short visit to Germany for my sister's Birthday.

It
was an extremely nice late almost "Indian Summer" weekend with a nice
party and on Sunday a visit to an art gallery where one of her friends,
Karl Heinz Treiber, had an exposition.

I think he makes some very
interesting paintings, at the exposition it was mainly about mountains.
Very detailed and technical paintings .... the explanations were much
more philosophical though :-).

A few examples (he actually climbed the mountains in Italy and Switzerland):

And a few of the mixed ones. It's about coming home and "The Wanderer" and his road in life ...

European Union court rejects Microsoft's appeal in historic case

The European Union's Court of First Instance handed Microsoft a major defeat on Monday, slapping down the software maker's appeal in three significant areas of the historic antitrust case brought by the European Commission.In the closely watched case, which has dragged on since March 2004, the Luxembourg-based court upheld the Commission's findings that Microsoft abused its dominant position in the market.The highlights:Interoperability. The court agreed with the Commission that Microsoft was stifling competition by withholding certain technical specifications, or protocols, from rivals. The court also agreed that the Commission wanted Microsoft to share only the system protocols, and not its source code. After all, not everyone wants to be "like" Microsoft."The court rejects Microsoft's claims that the degree of interoperability required by the Commission is intended in reality to enable competing work group server operating systems to function in every respect like a Windows system and, accordingly, to enable Microsoft's competitors to clone or reproduce its products," the Court of First Instance stated in its decision.The decision further noted that "the court considers that the Commission was correct to conclude that the work group server operating systems of Microsoft's competitors must be able to interoperate with Windows domain architecture on an equal footing with Windows operating systems if they are to be capable of being marketed viably--the absence of such interoperability has the effect of reinforcing Microsoft's competitive position on the market and creates a risk that competition will be eliminated."Bundling. The court upheld the Commission's decision that Microsoft was bundling two products together--the Windows operating system and its Windows Media Player--as a means to lock out competition."The court considers that the factors on which the Commission based its conclusion that there was abusive tying are correct and consistent with Community law."The decision was based on four factors, which, in court parlance, are as follows: the concerned company must have a dominant position in the market for the tying product (the Windows operating system, in this case); the tying product and tied product (Media Player) must be two separate products; consumers don't have a choice to obtain the tying product without the tied product; and the practice must foreclose competition."In respect of each of those factors, the court considers that the Commission's decision is well founded," the ruling said.The fine. What about that megafine--the one for 497 million Euros, or $613 million that was part of the Commission's March 2004 order?Microsoft is stuck with the bill."The Court finds that the Commission did not err in assessing the gravity and duration of the infringement and did not err in setting the amount of the fine. Since the abuse of the dominant position is confirmed by the Court, the amount of the fine remains unchanged at EUR 497 million," the court ruled.Microsoft can appeal the court's decision to the Court of Justice of the European Communities. But the appeal is limited only to points of law.Round three, anyone?UPDATE:Microsoft isn't yet ready to say whether it will seek an audience with the European Court of Justice, but one thing the software giant plans to do is comb through the full decision.Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, noted that while it was clear the court agreed with the Commission on a number of points, Microsoft appreciated that the court had sided with the software maker on the issue of the Commission using a monitoring trustee to help it evaluate the technicalities of the case, Smith said during a press conference in Europe."The court criticizes, in particular, the obligation imposed on Microsoft to allow the monitoring trustee, independently of the Commission, access to its information, documents, premises and employees and also to the source code of its relevant products. It observes that no limit in time is envisaged for the continuing intervention of the trustee," the court stated.As a result, Microsoft is no longer holding the bill for all costs associated with the monitoring trustee.And the court also reigned in the power of the trustee, finding the Commission has no authority to compel Microsoft to grant the trustee powers which the Commission is not authorized to confer on a third party.Smith also said that Microsoft has been working hard to comply with the March 2004 order and that progress has been made. He added that he hopes the court's decision will bring further clarity to the issue of interoperability, as well.

Blogged with Flock

X-factor worst ...... they're no jokes :-)

This weekend: Jordaan festival

Again a big party in Amsterdam, in "De Jordaan", Jordaan Festival.

The Jordaan is a district of the city of Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

The Anne Frank House, where Anne Frank went into hiding during World War II, is located on the edge of the Jordaan, on the Prinsengracht canal. Rembrandt spent the last years of his life in the Jordaan, on the Rozengracht canal. He was buried in the Westerkerk church, at the corner of Rozengracht and Prinsengracht.

The Jordaan is home to many art galleries, particularly for modern
art. The neighbourhood is also dotted with speciality shops and
restaurants, and markets are held regularly at Noordermarkt, the Westerstraat (the Lapjesmarkt textile market) and Lindengracht.

The most common theory on the origin of the name is as a derivation of the French word jardin, meaning garden. Most streets and canals in the Jordaan are named after trees and flowers. Another theory is that the Prinsengracht canal was once nicknamed Jordaan (the Dutch name for the river Jordan), and that the neighbourhood beyond the canal came to be called this as well.

Built in the first half of the 17th century to house the working
class, the Jordaan is now one of the most expensive, upscale locations
in the Netherlands. The neighbourhood has become "yuppified" as many of
the neighbourhood's original working-class residents have moved out of
the city to more affordable locations in recent decades, mainly to Almere and Purmerend.

A view of the Jordaan, at the corner of the Prinsengracht and Bloemgracht canals.

Construction of the Jordaan began in 1612.
The streets and canals where build according to the old ditches and
paths. In the 19th century, six of the Jordaan's canals were filled in,
including the Rozengracht, which is now the main traffic artery through the neighbourhood. Tram lines 13, 14, and 17 run through this street.

The neighbourhood was traditionally a leftwing stronghold, with a stormy history. Heavy riots broke out in 1835, 1886, 1917 and 1934. The February strike of 1941 started with meetings on Noordermarkt square.

The Jordaan had a lively music scene in the 20th century. Several of the most popular musicians, including singer Johnny Jordaan, now have a statue in their memory at the corner of Prinsengracht and Elandsgracht. The Jordaanfestival, celebrating the neighbourhood's music tradition, is held annually.

The Jordaan has a high concentration of hofjes (inner
courtyards), many of them with restored houses and peaceful gardens.
These courtyards were built by rich people for elderly women, as a kind
of charity. By the 1970s most of these courtyards were in very bad
shape, like the rest of the neighbourhood. After their restoration they
were inhabited mainly by artists, students and some elderly people. If
you come across the entrance to a hofje, and it is unlocked,
most residents won't mind if you sneak a quiet peek. Some of the
courtyards are closed to the public, and open only on special "open
monuments days". During the summer some of these yards are opened on
Sundays during free concerts known as hofjesconcerten.

Many houses in the Jordaan have a stone tablet on their facade, a
stone sign displaying the profession or family sign of the inhabitants.
For instance a butcher displayed a pig and a tailor a pair of scissors,
carved in stone above the entry. The first such stone tablets were made
in the 16th century, when citizens were ordered to use these tablets
instead of big wooden gables that obstructed the traffic in the narrow
streets.

One more reason to buy an iPhone

Although not possible to buy or use an iPhone in the Netherlands it is getting more interesting, also by using the iPod Touch for this functionality.

From the makers of Movable Type.

For a long time now I have been one of those iPhone hold outs that insists on waiting for the next generation before taking the iPhone plunge. But today could be the tipping point for me and many other Movable Type users like me.

Today we are happy to announce Movable Type for the iPhone and iPod Touch, made possible through a plugin developed by Brad Choate that makes use of the design developed by Walt Dickinson for TypePad. The plugin works by installing an alternate template set
that is automatically used in place of the primary Movable Type user
interface when the application is accessed via an iPhone or iPod Touch.
The integration with Movable Type is totally seamless.

Walt has done an amazing job creating a truly thoughtful user
experience. He certainly had the option to just boil down the
application to a smaller, more browsable version of itself. But he
didn't. Instead Walt designed the ideal user experience for iPhone from
scratch. He created custom graphics, layouts and entirely new screens
for the application in order to make this plugin feel like a completely
native iPhone application.

The plugin, and its design, is completely free and open source. It is available through our plugin directory or from code.sixapart.com.